A barricaded man who fired in the direction of officers of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) last winter was found not criminally responsible due to his mental disorders. Julien Giard wanted to “get the evil out” of his firearm and saw “skulls” on the police officers.
January 22, 2023, in the Rosemont district, Julien Giard’s mother calls 911 because she is worried about her son’s condition. He threatens to throw someone out of the window, talks to himself and even barricades the doors of the residence with furniture. At 911, the woman indicated that her son had a drill in his hand.
Two police officers arrive on the scene and notice that the front door is blocked by objects. An officer shouts “police” several times and gets no response. The police then decide to enter to protect the suspect’s mother and break down the main door. Suddenly, a loud noise rang out in the residence, followed by a second. The agents immediately retreated.
“You don’t do that to a 71-year-old woman. I told you it was going to happen,” Julien Giard shouts.
The man finally leaves the residence without a weapon and is subdued by two other police officers at the rear of the residence. Note that the bullets hit the ceiling and a wall, and not the door of the residence.
In his interrogation with the police, Julien Giard explains having taken a “photograph of the devil” that morning. He believes that the police shot him first and that he only defended himself from their attack. Already, he explains that he intends to plead “temporary insanity”.
Julien Giard’s mother told the police that her son said he spoke with people telepathically. The morning of the event, he woke her up by shouting at the window: “I’m ready.” Her son did not have mental health support and suffered from alcoholism and was withdrawing from heroin.
The 49-year-old Montrealer was suffering at the time of the events from a “serious mental disorder of a psychotic nature” which prevented him from distinguishing right from wrong, concluded psychiatrist Kim Bédard-Charette in a report filed in court.
Due to his “delusional paranoid” perceptions, Julien Giard was in fact convinced that malicious people were attacking him. He therefore opened fire, believing he was in self-defense, explains the psychiatrist in her expert opinion.
Julien Giard will be detained in a psychiatric institute. His fate will now be in the hands of the Mental Disorders Commission.
Me Annabelle Sheppard represented the prosecution, while defense counsel was Me Gaétan Bourassa.